Mobile Bay Dolphin Cruises

Mobile Bay Adventures offers families and small groups, up to 6 people, both full and half-day Dolphin Cruises from the Eastern Shore. Spend the day on the water versus fighting bumper to bumper traffic all the way down to the Gulf and standing in line to get on a party boat with 25 to 100 other tourists. Sighting dolphin the way we locals have been doing it for years is just one of many enjoyable things you experience when cruising 45 minutes to the Gulf.

Our full-day dolphin trips are customized to your preferences and may include lots of local scenery, water activities, private beaches, freshwater rivers and dining at one of the many popular restaurants, all by boat. Full-day charters offer a lot of “bang for the buck” because we cover a lot of territory and take the time to enjoy the surroundings. It becomes a private charter so there is something for everyone! We want your family to have a memorable day on the water.

Arnica Bay

Ingram Bayou

Arnica Bay Dolphin Cruises travel southeast through the Intercoastal Waterway, passing Wolf Bay, Bayou La Launch to our destination in Arnica Bay in waters off Orange Beach, Alabama. right to the heart of numerous restaurants, marinas, secluded beaches and boating activity. On this cruise you will see beautiful landscapes, wildlife, yachts and a feel for what living on the water is really like!

On our full-day cruises, we make time to enjoy a meal. You can bring your own lunch and picnic on a private beach, eat onboard while cruising, or we can stop at LuLu’s (Jimmy Buffet’s Sister) or Tacky Jacks on the Intercoastal, or grab a burger, take a dip and listen to “live music” at Pirates Cove, one of the locals favorites.

Pirates Cove

Big Daddy's Grill

Full-day cruises also include a tour of Ingram Bayou, a protected anchoring with calm water, wildlife and dolphin. Many locals stop here and throw out rafts to swim, picnic and enjoy the scenery.

Navy Cove

Our Navy Cove Dauphin Cruise travels to the southern end of Mobile Bay where we sight dolphin along Fort Morgan and Navy Cove. We will cruise by historic Middle Bay Lighthouse and you will get a picturesque view of Sand Island lighthouse in route.

Our full-day dolphin cruise combines the best of Fresh Water Activity with a tour of southern Mobile Bay and the Eastern Shoreline. We will cruise Fish and Magnolia Rivers where you can bring lunch on board or dock at Big Daddy’s Grill to dine and listen to “live” music. We’ll then cruise over to Magnolia River where you will have the opportunity to swim at two local favorites, “Devils Hole” or the “ICE BOX,” selected by Alabama Living in 2018 as one of the top Natural Swimming Holes in Alabama. In route you will view lovely homes on the river that are the very last to receive U.S. Postal Mail Delivery by water.

Middle Bay Light-House

Sand Island Lighthouse

Middle Bay Lighthouse built in 1885 is one of the last “screw-pile” lighthouses left standing in the United States. This light house sits near the Mobile Ship Channel where visitors often see Oil Tankers, Cruise Ships, Shrimp Trawlers, even Warships traveling in or out of Mobile Port. It’s very common to also see pods of dolphin feeding around the Middle Bay Lighthouse or the ship channel.

Sand Island lighthouse is the beacon for mariners coming from the Gulf of Mexico and entering Mobile Bay. From this view of the lighthouse, you can also see Historic Fort Morgan to your east and Historic Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island to your west.  Depending on the tides, you might also experience the “tide-line” where Mobile Bay brackish water meets the Saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico forming a distinct change in the color of the water.

Dolphin Playing at Navy Cove

Weather permitting, the last leg of our full-day dolphin cruises showcase a spectacular sunset over Mobile Bay. You will see the sun slowly retreat into the water, illuminating the sky with a beautiful collection of reds, oranges, yellows, and purples.

Without a doubt, clear or partly cloudy days on Mobile Bay offer spectacular Sunset Cruises from the Eastern Shore. We offer two and four-hour Sunset Cruises in North Bay with the Mobile Skyline and USS Alabama in the background, in Middle Bay with Middle Bay Lighthouse in the background and South Mobile Bay with the Dauphin Island Bridge in the background.

Mobile Bay sunset cruises are the perfect way to end a fabulous day on the water or an amazing complement to your dining experience! We pick up guests from the Grand Hotel and Sunset Pointe at Fly Creek Marina on the Eastern Shore and The Blue Gill, The Oyster Bar or Ralph & Kacoos on the causeway. We’ll also pick up guests from (hwy 98 launch) in Weeks Bay or Pier Street Boat Launch on Scenic 98 in Fairhope.

Bring a small ice chest with your favorite beverage and/or hors d’ oeuvre and come spend a relaxing time with Mobile Bay Adventures on a Mobile Bay Sunset Cruise. Don’t be surprised if you see a pod of dolphin playing on Middle and South Bay Sunset Cruises.

Mobile Bay Adventures offers half-day tours in the Mobile Tensaw River Delta and the Weeks Bay Watershed. Afternoon tours launch from the Causeway for the Mobile Delta and Hwy 98 Fish River Bridge in Fairhope for Weeks Bay.

River Delta

The Mobile Tensaw River Delta is Alabama’s largest wetland ecosystem and the second largest river delta in the United States. The Delta is approximately 45 miles long and covers over 400 square miles of wetland. It is characterized by numerous tributary rivers, streams, bayous and creeks, including the waters of the Tensaw, Tombigbee and Alabama rivers and maintains the areas ecological balance, filtering impurities from approximately 15% of our countries fresh water.

Known as America’s Amazon, the Mobile Delta is home to more species of freshwater fish, mussels, snails, turtles and crawfish than any other state. Over 350 species of freshwater fish and more turtle species than and other river system on the planet. Even creatures capable of killing humans, including Bears, Bobcats, Bull Shark, Boars, Alligators and 5 different venomous snakes make their home in the Alabama Delta.

In addition to over 300 different bird species, there is an untold number of insects, amphibians and reptiles. The Delta is also home to one of the most diverse collections of carnivorous plants that feast on animals and insects alike. It is a land of “meat-eaters” with Bogs of pitcher plants that drown and eat a variety of insects, sundews and thread dews growing close to the ground can consume even the largest of dragonflies and floating bladderworts that trap and consume baby fish and tadpoles.

Mobile Bay Adventures tours the southern end of the Delta which includes the Tensaw- Apalachee watershed. We launch at Ralf Kacoo’s on the causeway and cruise over to the USS Alabama. From here we will cruise north up Spanish River into Grand Bay to view wildlife and the numerous fish-camps along the river. We’ll then move east along Raft River before dropping back south down Crab Creek a few miles to the Apalachee River. Crab creek is a two-mile long, narrow creek giving you an excellent view of plant and wildlife from both sides. From hee we cruise down Blakley River and enter Sardine Pass, home of 5 Rivers Nature Center. Behind Sardine Pass is Justins Bay a shallow marsh with unique wildlife and plant species. The last leg, we cruise back down Apalachee river, along the causeway and through Chacaloochee Bay returning to the boat launch.

Weeks Bay Watershed

The Weeks Bay Watershed is part of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program encompassing approximately 130,000 acres of southwest Baldwin County. The watershed includes the Fish River and Magnolia River drainage basins as well as several small creeks that enter Weeks Bay directly.

When visiting the Weeks Bay Watershed, we highly recommend that you take the time to visit Weeks Bay Visitor Center to learn about coastal habitats through its exhibits and collections of animals and regional plants and self-guiding nature trails that wind through wetlands, marshes, forests and a pitcher plant bog.

Mobile Bay Adventures offers three-hour eco tours through the southwest area of the estuary. Our tours include cruising all of Weeks Bay and the drainage basin of Fish and Magnolia Rivers, including, Turkey Branch and Waterhole Branch in Fish River and Noltie Creek in Magnolia River.